Balti Sigdr 2^II

Magnús varð (at morði)
málsnjallr í bǫð falla
(réð fyr ræsis dauða
ríkr þjóðkonungr slíkum).
Meir rak þik til þeira,
þreksterkr konungr, verka
— flagðs hest hafið flestan
fylldan — nauðr, an skyldi.

Málsnjallr Magnús varð falla í bǫð; ríkr þjóðkonungr réð fyr slíkum dauða ræsis at morði. Þreksterkr konungr, meir nauðr, an skyldi, rak þik til þeira verka; hafið fylldan {flestan hest flagðs}.

Eloquent Magnús had to fall in battle; the powerful, mighty king caused such a death of the ruler during the onslaught. Courage-strong king, a greater need than should have been [necessary] forced you into those deeds; you have sated {many a horse of the troll-woman} [WOLF].

Mss: Mork(35r) (Mork)

Readings: [7] flestan: flestum Mork    [8] fylldan: fylldum Mork

Editions: Skj AI, 504, Skj BI, 478, Skald I, 234, NN §972B; Mork 1867, 222, Mork 1928-32, 439, Andersson and Gade 2000, 388, 494 (Sslemb).

Context: As st. 1 above.

Notes: [1] Magnús: Magnús inn blindi Sigurðarson (see Context to st. 1 above). For Magnús’s death and his last words, see Note to Ív Sig 39 [All]. — [1] at morði ‘during the onslaught’: Lit. ‘in battle’. Kock (NN §972B) suggests taking this prepositional phrase with the first cl. (‘Magnús had to fall during the onslaught in battle’). That reading causes an awkward duplication but a more straightforward w. o. — [3-4] ríkr þjóðkonungr réð fyr slíkum dauða ræsis ‘the powerful, mighty king caused such a death of the ruler’: Again, not quite in keeping with the actual events (see Note to st. 1/5, 8 above). — [5, 8] meir nauðr, an skyldi ‘a greater need than should have been [necessary]’: This statement is somewhat obscure, but must refer to the fact that the counsellors of Haraldr’s sons were forced to resort to excessive measures to stop the rampage of Sigurðr slembir and Magnús in 1139. Hkr (ÍF 28, 314-15) and Mork (1928-32, 429-30) describe in detail the deliberations which took place prior to the campaign that culminated in the battle of Holmengrå. — [7-8] fylldan flestan (m. acc. sg.) ‘sated many’: The emendation (from dat. to acc.) is necessary from the point of view of syntax and is in keeping with earlier eds.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
3. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. Andersson, Theodore M. and Kari Ellen Gade, trans. 2000. Morkinskinna: The Earliest Icelandic Chronicle of the Norwegian Kings (1030-1157). Islandica 51. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press.
5. Mork 1928-32 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1928-32. Morkinskinna. SUGNL 53. Copenhagen: Jørgensen.
6. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
7. Mork 1867 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1867. Morkinskinna: Pergamentsbog fra første halvdel af det trettende aarhundrede. Indeholdende en af de ældste optegnelser af norske kongesagaer. Oslo: Bentzen.
8. Internal references
9. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Heimskringla’ in Kari Ellen Gade (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 2: From c. 1035 to c. 1300. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 2. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=4> (accessed 16 April 2024)
10. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Morkinskinna’ in Kari Ellen Gade (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 2: From c. 1035 to c. 1300. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 2. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=87> (accessed 16 April 2024)
11. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Ívarr Ingimundarson, Sigurðarbálkr 39’ in Kari Ellen Gade (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 2: From c. 1035 to c. 1300. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 2. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 524.